2,000-Year-Old Road Discovered In Israel
Excavation director Irina Zilberbod on the ancient road. Image by Griffin Aerial Photography Company, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
By Naomi Zeveloff March 7, 2017
An aerial photo of the Roman-era road near Bet Shemesh. Image by Griffin Aerial Photography Company, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority
Israeli archeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old Roman-era road near Bet Shemesh.
The road is up to 20 feet wide at its widest and is just under a mile long. It travels roughly the same path as Israel’s Highway 375, which crosses through Bet Shemesh and part of the West Bank.
According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the road linked a Roman settlement with a large highway that lead to Jerusalem known as Emperor’s Road. Some of the road’s travelers apparently dropped money on their way. Several coins dating as far back as 29 CE were discovered on the road, which was first located during an excavation ahead of the construction of a water pipeline to Jerusalem.
Coins discovered during the road excavation. Image by Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority
Before the Roman Period, the Holy Land was traversed via trails, but under Roman rule beginning 2,000 years ago there was a major expansion of roads in order to coordinate military travel. These roads were also used to transport grain, oil and wine to villages.
Israel Antiquities Authority archeologist Amit Shadan said in a statement that the trail will be preserved in its place.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected]
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Dive In
-
Fast Forward From ‘October 8’ to ‘The Encampments,’ these new documentaries illuminate the post-Oct. 7 American experience
-
Fast Forward Jews at Tufts are furious over ICE seizing a pro-Palestinian grad student. But they’re wary of joining protests for her.
-
Fast Forward Federal spending cuts could affect aid for Holocaust survivors and kosher Meal on Wheels deliveries
-
Fast Forward Pennsylvania Jewish groups condemn ‘genocide’ slogan on Gisele Fetterman’s charity
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 3
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
- 4
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion I co-wrote Biden’s antisemitism strategy. Trump is making the threat worse
-
Fast Forward From ‘October 8’ to ‘The Encampments,’ these new documentaries illuminate the post-Oct. 7 American experience
-
Fast Forward Jews at Tufts are furious over ICE seizing a pro-Palestinian grad student. But they’re wary of joining protests for her.
-
Film & TV How Marlene Dietrich saved me — or maybe my twin sister — and helped inspire me to become a lifelong activist
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.